May 4, 2026

I Love the Lord — Psalms 116:1-7

February 22, 2014 by

SeekingHimLogo

 

I love the Lord, because He hears my voice and my supplications.
Because He has inclined His ear to me,
Therefore I shall call upon Him as long as I live.
The cords of death encompassed me and the terrors of Sheol came upon me;
I found distress and sorrow.
Then I called upon the name of the Lord: “O Lord, I beseech You, save my life!”
Gracious is the Lord, and righteous; Yes, our God is compassionate.
The Lord preserves the simple; I was brought low, and He saved me.
Return to your rest, O my soul, for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you.

Psalms 116:1-7 NASB

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CHRISTLife — A Quiet Time (Part Three)

February 22, 2014 by

IMG_1391

Each Saturday recently we have been looking in-depth at a few of the most important aspects of having a quiet time—or as some folks call it—a devotional time.  Already we have talked about two very foundational aspects of a quiet time—Bible reading and singing praises.  This week we are remembering the importance of being thankful and expressing our gratitude to our Father.

Truly, is there anything else that you can think of that can so change your heart’s attitude more than thankfulness?  I don’t think it presumptuous to say that every one of us has had times of worry, sorrow, despair, grief, anguish, pain in which we turned our hearts to seek God and found ourselves praising and thanking Him for His goodness and kindness towards us.  True?

Before we go any further, let’s stop for just five minutes and worship our God voicing our thanks and our praise!


~  Thank You  – Hillsong / Songwriter – Reuben Morgan  ~
Thank You for Your kindness, thank You for Your mercy
Thank You for the Cross, thank You for the price You paid

Thank You for salvation, thank You for unending grace
Thank You for Your hope, thank You for this life You gave

There is no one like You…There is no one like You, God
All my hope is in You, Jesus Jesus

To Your name we give all the glory
To Your name we give all the praise
And You’re alive—Our God everlasting—let Your face shine on us

Thank You for Your promise, thank You for Your favor
Thank You for Your love…everything You’ve done for me

* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

The Psalmist, writer of many, many songs of thanks and praise, had this in his heart:

Praise the Lord! (Hallelujah!) O give thanks to the Lord, for He is good;
for His mercy and loving-kindness endure forever!
Who can put into words and tell the mighty deeds of the Lord?
Or who can show forth all the praise [that is due Him]?
Psalms 106:1 and 2 AMP

Who can speak forth enough words to tell all the wonderful, mighty things that God has done?  Or who can utter all the praise that is due Him?  Clearly the simple answer is ‘No one.’  But that doesn’t mean we don’t still thrill to voice our gratitude and thankfulness to our Great God!

I checked out Webster’s definition of thankfulness:

THANK’FUL, adjective.
Grateful; impressed with a sense of kindness received, and ready to acknowledge it.

• The Lord’s supper is to be celebrated with a thankful remembrance of His sufferings and death.
• Be thankful to Him, and bless his name (Psalm 100).

I think Mr. Webster’s definition clearly shows that thankfulness is both thought and action—you ‘sense’ having received <God’s> kindness AND you ‘acknowledge’ it. Here’s a great example:

Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all you lands!
Serve the Lord with gladness!
Come before His presence with singing!
Know that the Lord is God!
It is He Who has made us, not we ourselves [and we are His]!
We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.
Enter into His gates with thanksgiving
and a thank offering and into His courts with praise!
Be thankful and say so to Him,
bless and affectionately praise His name!
For the Lord is good;
His mercy and loving-kindness are everlasting,
His faithfulness and truth endure to all generations.
Psalm 100

The Psalmist was confessing—remembering—just a few things he was grateful for, AND voicing his gratitude.  We can—we should—do the same! We have oh-so-very-much to be thankful for, amen?  We definitely ‘sense’ God’s abundant goodness and kindness to us, true?  And we acknowledge it through our words of gratitude and thankfulness.

I will thank Yahweh with all my heart;
I will declare all Your wonderful works.
Psalm 9:1

I cried to You, O Lord, and to the Lord I made supplication.
Hear, O Lord, have mercy and be gracious to me! O Lord, be my helper!
To the end that my tongue and my heart
and everything glorious within me
may sing praise to You and not be silent.
O Lord my God, I will give thanks to You forever.
Psalms 30:10, 12

So in your quiet time (but not ONLY in your quiet time!) may I encourage you to tell Your Father how very grateful you are for His goodness, for His protection, for His healing, for His deliverance, for His provision, for His calling, for His admonition, for His guidance, for His love, grace and mercy!  And give Him much thanks!  (Perhaps you might share with us something you have thanked Him for just today…?  Leave your comment below; thanks!)

Keep worshipping Him and enjoying your quiet time with your Lord!  As you seek Him, He will be found…He promises!

Filed Under: CHRISTLife Bible Study Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Crustless Kale Quiche

February 21, 2014 by

Crustless Kale Quiche Resize

Talk about a tongue twister!  It’s worth the effort to say, and the little bit to make, because this Crustless Kale Quiche hits the spot.

I’ve only made this once … and I’ve already eaten almost half of it.  The kale adds a little bitterness and chew to what would otherwise be a run-of-the-mill spinach pie.  Nutmeg, currants, and pepitas add an almost sweet, Middle Eastern flavor profile.  The three eggs are just enough to combine the ingredients without becoming heavy or custardy like a regular spinach quiche.  Don’t get me wrong – a traditional spinach and swiss cheese quiche is wonderful, but this one is lighter, with an unexpected combination of flavors that will have you craving it again.

I ate this hot, and I ate it cold, cut right out of the fridge.  I ate this with a big slab of goat cheese on top and I ate it plain.  I’m going to eat more of it with dinner tonight and see if I can’t discover some new way to enjoy it.  If you want your greens, with a little extra zing, try this instead of a salad tonight!

Crustless Kale Quiche

Ingredients:

  • 1 pound bag of frozen chopped spinach
  • 1 large bunch of kale
  • 3/4 cup pepitas (or try pine nuts or sunflower seeds)
  • 1 tablespoon coconut oil (or butter) plus more for greasing the pie plate
  • 1 teaspoon chopped garlic (about 2 cloves)
  • 1/2 cup currants or raisins (next time I’m trying golden raisins!)
  • 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 3 eggs
  • Goat cheese, to serve, if desired

Directions:

  1. Wash the kale and remove from the stem, tearing it into smaller-than-bite-sized pieces.  Saute on medium heat in a large pot with a lid.  Don’t add any extra water or oil – just the damp kale by itself.  Stir occasionally until it gets soft, about 15 minutes.  When it appears soft and has reduced in volume, pour in the bag of frozen spinach.  Stir to combine and replace the lid.  Cook on medium-low for another five minutes until the spinach is thawed.  Remove from the heat and let cool.
  2. Preheat the oven to 350*F.  While the spinach and kale are cooling, heat the coconut oil over medium and add the pepitas.  Stir frequently for 5 minutes, then add the garlic and currants.  Stir for another 3 minutes.
  3. Squeeze out as much water from the kale mixture as possible, then dump it into a large bowl.  Pour over the pepita mixture and combine.  Add nutmeg and salt.
  4. Beat 3 eggs well and mix into kale mixture.  Grease a pie plate, then fill with the kale mixture.  Smooth it down so you have a flat top.  Bake for 35 minutes or until not wet in the middle.  Serve warm or cold, with goat cheese or without.

Explore, experiment, enjoy! — Dana

To view even more of Dana’s unique recipe, you can visit her at Frugal Girlmet!

Filed Under: At Home w/ GCH Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

Come Away With Me

February 21, 2014 by

psalmshymnsspiritualsongskjv

~  Listen while you read, please!  ~

Come away with Me
Come away with Me
It’s never too late
It’s not too late…It’s not too late for you
I have a plan for you, I have a plan for you
It’s gonna be wild…it’s gonna be great…it’s gonna be full of Me

Open up your heart and let Me in…

* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *
Don’t you just want to grab His hand and run away with Jesus?  How well is your life going on your own, might I ask?  I know for me…I was saved at an early age and I dove in head first and ran with Jesus.  What a great ride this has been, too. He loved me from the day I was born and He still loves me. I cannot think of one moment that He didn’t have my life in His hands.

Fast forward to a time when I pulled away from Jesus.  I dropped His hand and went my own way; the life He had planned for me was on hold.  I went down some not-so-good roads and left a lot of damage and destruction along the way.  Yet He was still waiting.  You know those nudges from the Holy Spirit?  The ones that are whispering, “Come back home”? After 2 years of living my life on my own, I did surrender.   I knew it wasn’t too late.  I knew that no matter what I did, who I had hurt—Jesus was ready to forgive me.  And if He had said something, I imagine it would’ve been these words:  “Come away with Me; it’s going to be wild, it’s going to be great, it’s going to be full of Me…open up your heart and let Me in!”

Are you ready?  Take His hand and come away with Him.  He has amazing plans for you, my friend!  It will be wild, it will be hard at times, it will be great, it will be trying but He will always be with you!  Always!

If you don’t know Him, please get in touch with us, in the comment section below if you need to.  This is the most important ride you will ever take.  He loves you and He wants to be with you forever.  “It’s gonna be wild, it’s gonna be great, it’s gonna be full of Me.”

Esther 1:11 “Come here to me.”

Matthew 8:7 “Jesus said, I will come and heal him.”

Mark 6:31 “And Jesus said,”Let’s go off by ourselves to a quiet place and rest a while.”

Matthew 14:27 “But Jesus spoke to them at once, ‘Don’t be afraid.’ He said, “Take courage, I am here.”

Filed Under: Psalms Hymns and Spiritual Songs Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

I Love the Lord Because….

February 21, 2014 by

SeekingHimLogo
I love the LORD, because He has heard my voice and my supplications.
Because He has inclined His ear to me, therefore I will call upon Him as long as I live.
The pains of death surrounded me, and the pangs of Sheol laid hold of me;
I found trouble and sorrow.
Then I called upon the name of the LORD: “O LORD, I implore You, deliver my soul!”
Gracious is the LORD, and righteous; yes, our God is merciful.
The LORD preserves the simple; I was brought low, and He saved me.
Return to your rest, O my soul, for the LORD has dealt bountifully with you.
Psalms 116:1-7

  • “I found trouble and sorrow…then I called upon the name of the Lord.” How great of a feeling is this!?  Knowing that we can call on His name. Knowing that He is there…He is righteous, He is merciful.  Knowing He will save us.  I think back and I try to count how many times I call out for God’s help during the day.  From the morning when I pray for patience with my kids, to the workday when I pray for guidance when interacting with people, to the evening when I pray for energy to finish my tasks of the day.  I know I can call on Him.
  • “The pains of death surrounded me,”  When I read this line of the psalm, my mind began running through all of the areas in life that we face a type of death: physical death is the first, of course; but we also face emotional death, loss of relationships, loss of jobs and income, loss of belongings. All of these can feel like a type of death, and pain accompanies all of them.
  • “I was brought low, and He saved me.”  When I call on Him, He saves me. When I feel loss, He saves me.  This may not look how I expected it to, but it is always what I need.  This passage ultimately says two things: we are going to feel pain in life and we are going to feel loss, but despite this we will always be able to call to Him and He will always be there to hear our voice.

* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

Let’s Pray: Dear Heavenly Father, ‘thank You’ doesn’t begin to express how appreciative we are of Your love, and of the fact that You hear us at our lowest times.  Not only do You hear us but You step in and help…You intervene and do what is best for us.  Thank You, Father.  In Jesus’ name we pray.  Amen.

Filed Under: Seeking Him Daily Devotional Tagged With: , , , , ,

CHRISTLife — Thirty: Belonging

February 21, 2014 by

cl belonging

Picture this scene:

Years ago while walking down the hallway of the school where I was teaching, I came face-to-face with an eighth grade student who had transferred out of my class the previous quarter.  Curious about her transfer, I stopped her and the conversation went like this:
“Why did you transfer out of my class?”  She replied: “I don’t like you!”
After years of teaching, I wasn’t naïve enough to think that every teenager in my class was madly in love with me.  However, no one had ever point-blank told me so to my face.  A glutton for punishment, I pressed her for more information. “What is it that you don’t like about me?”
Placing her hands on her hips, swerving them from side to side and rolling her big eyes at me, she bluntly said, “Lady, there ain’t nothing about you that I do like!”
Whoa! It wouldn’t do for me to repeat what I wanted to say and do to this fourteen-year-old.  Let’s just say, if I had carried through, I would have been put behind prison bars for assaulting a child.  So, I just mustered up a fake smile to her, and continued on my way.  As I walked on down the hall to my next class, my thoughts flashed back to an encounter I had with myself a few years earlier.  Alone in my bedroom one cold and rainy night, I had gazed into the mirror on the wall and uttered the exact same words that this fourteen-year-old had so bluntly spoken to me: “I don’t like you,” and I also admitted for the first time in my life: “I have no idea who I am.”

After my encounter with myself in the mirror, and what was fast becoming my bottomless pit of despair, it was as though the Holy Spirit took me by the hand and we began to travel down a muddy road that I had traveled for years.  As I retraced my tracks along that road, I viewed people whom I had allowed to mold and shape me into their image.

Being a “don’t rock the boat” kind of person with a low-key personality, I had avoided conflict at all extremes.  In doing so, I became a yo-yo on a string, bobbling up and down, trying to keep peace and harmony, albeit a false harmony. People Pleaser—that was my addiction.

Talk about having no sense of belonging, that was me.  How well I can relate to what Mrs. Myers says we do on the human level to achieve a sense of belonging:

“…we base our feelings of belongingness on our ability to attract love and approval and inclusion. Since both we and other people are imperfect and changeable, human relationships fail to fully meet our need for inner support.” (page 127)

New Sense of Belonging:  I believe the Holy Spirit took me down that muddy road to view ways I had gotten off the right path and then He gave me a new direction.  I began to travel on a new ‘Road of Identity’—one that gave me purpose in life.  In our chapter today, Mrs. Myers describes it so well.

  • “In God we have a belongingness based on eternal, unconditional love that accepts us without regard for our merits or demerits.”
  • “…In Christ we never have to view ourselves as deficient or as outsiders, or as inferior to those who see themselves as exclusive or elite.”
  • Christ is in us. (Colossians 1:27)
  • We are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s. (1 Corinthians 3:23)
  • ‘Through the blood of Christ,’ we are now ‘inside the circle of God’s love.’ (Ephesians 2:13)
  • We ‘belong in God’s household with every other Christian.’ (Ephesians 2:19)
  • Each of us is a full member of ‘the Church of the Firstborn, whose names are written in heaven.’ (Hebrews 12:23)

It reminds me of an old hymn of the church…
Now I belong to Jesus,
Jesus belongs to me.
Not for the years of time alone,
But for eternity.

Let’s pray:  Father God, Your Word says: “You are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light” (I Peter 2:9 NIV).  Thank You, Lord, for choosing us as Your own.  Help us to look only to You for belonging…not anyone else.  In Jesus’ name, we pray.  Amen.

Filed Under: CHRISTLife Bible Study Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

As Long As I Live

February 20, 2014 by

SeekingHimLogo

I love the Lord, because He has heard
my voice and my pleas for mercy.
Because He inclined His ear to me,
therefore I will call on Him as long as I live.
Psalms 116:1-2

From generation to generation, God has sustained His people.  He has carried them through the difficulties they have had to endure.  In these verses, we see where it begins.  ‘I love the LORD;’ perhaps we need to say that more.  If we do love Him, let’s proclaim it!  The psalmist goes on to say why He loves God… “because He has heard my voice and my pleas for mercy, because He inclined His ear to me.”  If you have walked with the Lord for any length of time, you know these two verses to be true.  Our hearts should burst with love for Him because He’s been attentive to our pleas for mercy and has helped us.  And you know full well that once you’ve tasted how wonderful life is with Him, you desire to call on Him all the days of your life!  And in doing so, He will be your strength for you!

Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good!
Blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him!
Psalm 34:8

I do not deserve what God has given me.  He has lavished love, mercy, and grace on me!  And the more He does, the more I find myself loving Him more!

Because the Lord sent Jesus to die on the Cross in my place and has forgiven me of my sins, I now have a relationship with Him that will last for an eternity. And no matter what I have to endure on this earth, I know Jesus walks beside me.  No one can separate me from His love.  If you know and love Him, the same can be said for you.

Who can separate us from the love of Christ?
Shall tribulation or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?
As it is written, ‘For Your sake we are being killed all the day long;
we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.’ No, in all these things
we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.
For I am sure that neither death nor life, not angels nor rulers,
nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth,
nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us
from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 8:35-39

Friends, pray.  Call on Him as long as you live!  Love Him!  Have a deep and personal relationship with the Almighty God!  He loves you and cares for you!

Dear Lord,
I love you, and I thank You for hearing my voice when I cry out to You—the first time I knew I desperately needed You and every time since then.  Every time, You have been there to help me, forgive me, comfort me, understand me, and restore me.  You are my precious and wonderful God! Thank You for hearing my pleas of mercy and for always being there!  I will call on You as long as I live!  In Jesus’ precious Name I pray, Amen.

Filed Under: Seeking Him Daily Devotional Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

I Love Jesus…Yes I Do!

February 20, 2014 by

psalmshymnsspiritualsongskjv~  Listen while you read, please!  ~

I love Jesus (I love Jesus); Yes, I do (Yes, I do)
I love Jesus (I love Jesus); How about you? (How about you?)
I love Jesus, yes, I do; I love Jesus, how about you?

     The bottom line…the way to win…is up with Jesus…down with sin
     The Word is clear…easy to see…only Christ can set you free

I love Jesus (I love Jesus); Yes, I do (Yes, I do)
I love Jesus (I love Jesus); How about you? (How about you?)
I love Jesus, yes, I do; I love Jesus, how about you?

* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

(Are you be-bopping around the house by now?)  Every week I have the joy of listening to this song…well, actually Yancy’s version…as I sit while my 6 year old granddaughter, Kaylie Joy, has her dance lessons.  This is the song they are going to use for their tap dance in the recital.  And the most fun thing is to watch them sing the song!  It’s been quite a number of times now that they have heard the song…and they are understanding what they are singing at this point…too cute! They DO love Jesus…ummm, how about you?

Or, really, my question is ‘Since you love Jesus, how does it show?”  As in your relationship with anyone else whom you love, it is not in the constant reiteration or professing of your love but in your actions which prove your love.  Yes?  How much more so should it be in our relationship with our Lord?  He has given us such example of ‘proof’ of His love and we should be willing to do the same. Jesus said,

If you [really] love Me, you will keep (obey) My commands
John 14:15 AMP

The one who has My commands and keeps them is the one who loves Me.
And the one who loves Me will be loved by My Father.
I also will love him and will reveal Myself to him.
Verse 19-21

Jesus was at that time preparing His disciples for His leaving them.  They didn’t understand Him and questioned Him about it.  How kind, how compassionate, how loving that their Lord just kept pursuing helping them to get it!  He knew it would be difficult for them when He had to go and promised them a Comforter, a Helper Who would lead and guide them as He had done.  He loved them.

In fact, this is love for God: to keep His commands.
And His commands are not burdensome,
1 John 5:3

Jesus gave them two commands under which all other things He had told them to do would fall.

And He said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God
with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.
This is the great and first commandment.
And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.
Matthew 22:37-40

So, it would seem to me that to really say “I love Jesus” you must be loving. Would you leave a comment below sharing how you profess your love for Jesus through your obedience to His commands?  Thanks!  Jesus loves y.o.u. this I know for the Bible tells me so!

 

Filed Under: Psalms Hymns and Spiritual Songs Tagged With: , , , , , ,

CHRISTLife — TwentyNine: Enlightened

February 20, 2014 by

cl enlightened

♬♪ I wandered so aimless, life filled with sin; I wouldn’t let my dear Savior in ♬♪
Then Jesus came like a stranger in the night ♬♪Praise the Lord, I saw the light

I saw the light, I saw the light! ♬♪No more darkness, no more night
Now I’m so happy, ♬♪ no sorrow in sight! ♬♪Praise the Lord, I saw the light

As much fun as this song is to sing, it is even more so a joyful proclamation of God’s redeeming grace in our lives!  No matter how ‘good’ a life one could possibly lead before accepting Jesus as Lord and Savior…life prior to that IS aimless and filled with sin.  It is only through the accomplishments of Jesus on the Cross as He fulfilled the plan of salvation that Almighty God alone could have put into motion that anyone can ‘see the light!’

For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord.
Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness,
righteousness and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord.
Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them.
It is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret.
But everything exposed by the light becomes visible—
and everything that is illuminated becomes a light
Ephesians 5:8-13

Oh, do you not just love the end of that passage? “…Everything that is illuminated becomes a light….” That’s us (you and me)! We have been illuminated…the darkness that filled every part of our heart has been dispelled by the Light of Christ!

When Jesus spoke to His disciples about truly ‘seeing’ and ‘hearing’ He was also including us in that group of people who are blessed!  We have heard the message of salvation and have responded to His call!

But your eyes are blessed because they do see, and your ears because they do hear!
For I assure you: Many prophets and righteous people longed to see the things you see
yet didn’t see them; to hear the things you hear yet didn’t hear them.
Matthew 13:16 and 17

May I encourage you to recognize the light that you are!  1 Thessalonians 5:5 tells us that, “For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness.”  Being we now ARE children of the light, we should fulfill Jesus’ words (Matthew 5:16), “In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”

We do, for now, live in an evil, dark, perverse world.  But, by God’s grace we have the Lord Jesus Christ, the Messiah, the Light of the World, living in our hearts.  We have been made new, we have received grace upon grace, we have His power alive within us and we are the children of the Light!  Let your little light shine!

…for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.
Do all things without grumbling or disputing,
that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God
without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation,
among whom you shine as lights in the world,
holding fast to the word of life….
Philippians 2:13-16

 * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

CLiiakim022014

And here are Kim’s thoughts and her beautiful inner identity album page for this week; she writes:

This page really touches my heart as it is my life’s story!!  God turned my darkness into light.  My mess into my message. and just like Isaiah 61 says:

to grant to those who mourn in Zion—
to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes,
the oil of gladness instead of mourning,
the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit;
that they may be called oaks of righteousness,
the planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified.

Hallelujah!

Filed Under: CHRISTLife Bible Study Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

I Love the Lord

February 19, 2014 by

SeekingHimLogo

Thinking of personal testimonies, I want us to look at Psalm 116 as a personal testimony.  We do know that this man faced great peril and was delivered by the Lord.  This is a very personal psalm, with the writer making reference to himself 37 times in 19 verses.  Only in verses 5, 15, and 19, is there is not at least one personal pronoun used.

The exciting thing is that we can relate to this man’s testimony.  As we study this passage we find that what was true of this man should be true for us as well. Because the Psalmist used the personal pronoun “I”, let’s you and I use the personal pronoun as well.  In this passage let’s consider:

I love the Lord, for He heard my voice;
He heard my cry for mercy.
Because He turned His ear to me,
I will call on Him as long as I live.
Psalms 116:1 and 2

Many Psalms begin with praise.  This Psalm alludes to praise, but is actually a statement of the Psalmists devotion, “I LOVE THE LORD!”

If someone were to ask us, “Do you love the Lord?” our natural inclination is to say “YES.”  In this statement of devotion it is something that the Psalmist should, also, have thought about before making the statement.  (I imagine that he did.)  You and I should think about this statement, “I LOVE THE LORD!”  It’s very easy to say ‘I LOVE THE LORD’ and a lot more difficult to actually practice that love!

And He said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart,
and with all your soul, and with all your mind.
This is the great and first commandment.
And a second is like it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
Matthew 22:37-39

Next the Psalmist says, I love the Lord BECAUSE… ”He turned His ear to me, I will call on Him…” I think we can sum up our love for the Lord with 1 John 4:19, “We love Him, because He first loved us.”  The Psalmist’s expression of love is because the Lord heard and answered his prayer.  (Re-read Verses 1-2).

The Psalmist was in grave trouble and the Lord came down and heard (so to speak).  How many times has God done the same for us?  When we’ve been in great need and cried out, He has been there for us!

Notice something else here.  The Psalmist says, “Because He has turned His ear to me, I will call on Him as long as I live.”  That should be our attitude as well—because the Lord has answered our prayers, we should continue to pray.  He has shown Himself to be my God.  I should treat Him as such and continue to call on Him.

The decision we can make today is to love the Lord.  The psalmist gives a specific reason for loving the Lord.  His reason was that God had heard his prayer.  There are many more reasons for deciding to love the Lord.  Some of the reasons we should love the Lord are because He loves us (1 John 4:10, 19), He died for us (2 Corinthians 5:21), He keeps us (John 10:27-30), He helps and protects us (Psalm 121), and He indwells us (1 Corinthians 6:19-20).

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Lord God, thank You for ever-present help in times of my need.  Thank You for answered prayers whenever I call unto You.  You are a wonderful God.  May Your name be glorified in all the earth!  In Jesus’ name I pray.  Amen.

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